Once an adult, the accipito crystalwing is a quick and agile hunter. It is not a good flyer, but it can use its wings to dash forward at great speed. There is a strict hierarchy among all accipito crystalwings at the Keep, and once one of them reaches adulthood, it has to enter into a number of duels to determine its rank. At first, magi thought that the duels involved a staring contest, as the two crystalwings would stand across each other and just watch. But by accident, it was discovered that the orange feathers on their head, wings and tail glow with a light not visible to the human eye. The two duellist make these feathers glow, with the brighter glow winning over the other. Interestingly, accipito crystalwings show great respect to phoenixes and fire gryphons, probably because their natural flames make them glow much brighter than any crystalwing can manage.

Accipito crystalwings are creatures from the deepest caverns of Nareau. They live in groups of several dozen creatures that aggressively defend their home cavern and young against outside intrusions. Accipito crystalwing caverns can be identified easily from a distance; the crystalwings heat up their home cavern to a temperature barely bearable to humans. Just passing through one of those caverns can cause damage similar to a sunburn. This temperature is required for accipito eggs to develop correctly. If they are kept at lower temperatures for long, the hatchling will die in the egg. Therefore, growing them at the Keep requires special chambers that are kept heated by fires or appropriate magic. Accipito crystalwings grow almost to the size of a human, although they are much lighter thanks to their slender build.